According to new research, 44% of British employees want some form of hybrid working.
The Health wealth and happiness study conducted by insurance business LifeSearch asked people about their ideal working set up. It found that among Generation X, which included those aged 18 to 24, the proportion who would prefer to divide their time between their home and their workplace rose to 65%.
More than a fifth (21%) of 18 to 24-year-olds and 12% of all staff would consider changing jobs if their employer did not offer the working set-up they wanted and needed. Of those who said they would prefer a hybrid set-up, 44% wanted a 50/50 split, 29% would choose to spend three-quarters of their time in the workplace and a quarter at home, and 27% preferred to work three-quarters at home and a quarter in the workplace.
However, more than a third (36%) wanted to be in the workplace full time, with 46% of over 55s preferring this compared to 24% of those aged 18 to 24. Conversely, just 15% want to be working full-time from home, rising in popularity with age.
While overall 44% would prefer some form of hybrid working, this dropped to just 27% for over-55s, with 46% saying they would rather be full time in the workplace and 21% preferring to be at home full time.
In addition, just one in five (19%) believes their employer has been clear on what is expected of them in terms of how they need to work.
Emma Walker, chief marketing officer at LifeSearch, commented that the research backs up the assumption that most people have liked being able to work from home at least some of the time.
“The transition back to the office in a post-Covid-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic world is going to be tough, and most workers don’t feel their employers are being clear enough about what is expected, or that they have had enough of an input into how they want to work,” she said.
